Chapter 17: Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echos part I

Starting with the big picture, the discussion of the amount of power that Europe was attaining was the main topic and it lingered on into the chapter. With textbooks and maps placing Europe directly in the middle, reflecting Europe as being the center of all the countries around it, emphasized the amount of power that Europe was gaining. Other countries compared to Europe were unchanging and static which led to lacking any historical significance. Europe helped other cultures, such as Islamic science, move forward in a direction to expand and become more standard. Even other cultures were under the rule of Europe such as Muslim and Hindu cultures in India, which continued to develop under British colonial rule. When it comes to chapter seventeen,  the French Revolution was the beginning of all the revolutions. It's as if they other countries found the strength to stand up to whatever country that had a hold on them, and revolt against them. There were struggles along the way, such as getting documents established and taken seriously. In the end even though the French had the first recognized revolution, the United States were the ones that gave other countries true "hope." 

Chapter 16: Religion and Science part II

This portion of the chapter focused on how science helped the evolution of societies such as Europe and China. Europe held universities where students could go to further their education and studies. The development of science in the West was the autonomy of its emerging universities. In the Islamic world science was a variety of local authorities but occurred largely outside the formal system of higher education. Chinese education basically focused on their students taking exams that expressed how much they had learned over their academic career. Modern science was more of a "self-critical enterprise," this where people such as Darwin and Marx come with their humanitarian theories of how human beings are and evolve as humans. Darwin claimed that humans were the work of evolution operating through natural selection. Marx claimed that a view of human history emphasized change and struggle. The coming of socialism was in the laws of historical development. Towards the end of it all humans were viewed as systems of biological, economic, and social conflict. European thinkers and theories were an influence on Asian scientific theories and vice versa. 

Chapter 16: Religion and Science part I

This portion of the chapter covered the aspect of how religion changed the atmosphere for the Americas and the Philippines. Christianity was divided by the Roman Catholics of Western and Central Europe and the Eastern Orthodox of Eastern Europe and Russia. Science and church called into question the special position of the clerical hierarchy and mainly the Pope. Even though the battle between whether the church or scientific  theories were the ones to trust, women favored Protestantism and Reformation teachings and practices. Yet, women didn't have much say in Church or religion, men were still the head of power when it came to religion, such as Priests, Bishops, and the Pope. New religious orders provided a bond within the priests which made them committed to the renewal of the Catholic church and its extension abroad. When it came to the spread of religion, missionaries was one source and tactic. Missionaries had their greatest success in Spanish America and in the Philippines. Religion seems to have been a driver of human motivation and the word of God helped many humans understand what they were suppose to do in their daily lives in order to live a "good" life.  But then again what happened to those were unable to understand the word of God even if the text was read to them? Where did they fit in society? People who believed in the Scientific theories were most likely outcasts and/or punished for believing in what they did. Even in modern day Christianity versus science, there is conflict that arises.

Chapter 15: Global Commerce part II

The second part of the chapter was primarily focused on slavery. This is a topic that I have learned over and over again. What was different about the text that I read this time was the fact that there was a clear description of how racism and slavery became a topic that went hand and hand with one another. The slave journey  the Middle Passage wasn't described as in the other text books. I remember it being very disturbing and being gross, but the textbook doesn't touch on the journey, which I believe is the most powerful when it comes to connection between the Europeans and African Americans. Europeans really showed their true colors when it came to the way that they treated the slaves and other servants that they had. Overall this chapter touches the surface of slavery and the population of the Americas and the extended trade of human beings in various countries.

Chapter 15: Global Commerce part I

In the chapter of "Global Commerce" the journey of how various countries discovered and navigated the trade routes leads all the way to modern day trade. From the Triangular trade system to the Silk road and the Indian Ocean trade system, were the first trade routes that helped various countries gather what they needed either on a daily basis or just a luxury item. Some countries, such as European didn’t like to rely on other nations to help them gather items that they needed, which lead them to be the power house of trading. European countries were known to contribute much to the new regime of globalized trade. In this chapter you see a different powerful country coming to a rise, other than Europe which is pretty foreign when it comes to world history.

          Portuguese empire was looking its place in trade, which happened to be the spice trade. They never succeeded in controlling much more than half of the spice trade with Europe. Spain and the Philippines were also countries that were beginning to rise because various people fled to Manila, the capital of Philippines which made it a very diverse capital. This most likely lead to other cultures brings foreign items and sharing it among the people that are already citizens of Philippines. This helps Spain and the Philippines gain an upper hand in the trading system during the seventeenth century. The rest of the chapter continues on to other countries such as Asia, which focuses on China and India. 

Sweet Nexus: Sugar and the origins of the modern world

The format of the reading was the most helpful part. The way that the sugar process was described backwards pained a vivid image of what the sugar trade and exporting system looked like when it first began. The beginning starts off with a reflection of items that we consume explaining how consumers consume the items but have a lack of knowledge of where the item might have originated from. "...we are in a profit-based international market in which people produce what they do not consume, and consume what they do not produce." Which is a true statement, especially American consumers. The background of the origins of sugar was a bit dry but was useful when it came to understanding the evidence that was given in the packet. The various documents that were placed in the packet made you ask yourself why each piece of evidence was significant to the timing of sugar productions in Europe, Americas, and Central America. Without reading and understanding the background or previous knowledge of the origins of sugar you may have a harder time understanding the underlined meanings behind the letters, images, and data tables that were placed in the reading. Evidence pieces such as William Blake, "Europe Supported by Africa and America," 1796, was a complex image, yet easier understood given that the title gave away more than the image did. Looking at the image itself, you can see the nooses around both dark figures as the white female is in the middle being supported by both African slaves. I believe that this image seems to be showing the fact that Europeans were so dependent on African slaves for everything to the point that they stopped all together with even trying to do the most simplest things, such as keeping themselves up. Overall, the hard labor to keep a rare crop such as sugar, was something that the Europeans wanted to trade among others, but weren't willing to put in the work for it, so they were able to get another race to the hard work for them.

Chapter 14: part II

 As the Russian Empire begins to rise to a high power the chapter reflects on empires such as Spanish and British maybe the main reasoning for success of the British and Spanish was the independence that they gained. Russia ended up collapsing up until the point the Soviet Union in 1991. Religion becomes a big part of conquering land in Europe, and the Americas. By Europe being centered in both the trading system and world, it made it easier for them to create a major impact on present day America. What conquest was done without suffering of the people that were originally there? I have taken World History since 8th grade and various histories in between that time and each time I learn something different. Whether it be because the teacher teaches history through their point of view or because the text book takes a different approach than one that I have read before. Starting with the uprising of empires and exploring the world around their native homelands sets the tone of greed for power and land, the more land your country acquired made you the most powerful. You were able to climb the hierarchy to the top if you were to gain land and know what to do with it. As the chapters go on it is more likely that the rise, fall, and collapse of each empire will reveal how America will fall and then collapse in the future.

Chapter 14: Empires and Encounters

The amount of exploring and discovering various places, logic, and people helps explain the pros and cons of how the states became what they are today. Europe's power had a high increase and wasn't looking to have it discontinued. The establishment of Empires were at an all time high as was the about of hard labor. There were discoveries that helped people find efficient ways to travel, trade, and get hard labor done without working too hard themselves. Just like any other conquest mission, there was a great amount of blood shed, change of culture, and exporting people from their current location. It is a struggle to created a country without these cons, the pros are creating a new culture, establishing a high power, and economical and political stability. Cultural and religion changes were something that helped people understand the world around them and logic behind human beings. These were also things that helped connect other people from across the sea with one another. These changes helped create the "new world" and continued to help people around the world transform their environments, knowledge, and perspective.

Yay-I'm done!